Machine for sealing bottles.



E. J. GODMAN & W. H. NIEMEYER.

MACHINE FOR SEALING BOTTLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28. 1909. I ggl Patented June 14,1910.

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MACHINE FOR SEALING BOTTLES. APPLICATION FILED JULY 28, 1909.

961,603. Patented June 14,1910.

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E. J. GODMAN & W. H. NIEMEYER.

MACHINE FOR SEALING BOTTLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28, 1909.

15 Patented June 14,1910.

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EMORY J. GODMAN AND WILLIAM H. NIEMEYER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGN- ORS TO HORACE F. GRIFFITH, F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE. FOR SEALING BOTTLES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EMORY J. GoDMAN and l/VILLIAM H. NIEMEYER, both of the city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for Sealing Bottles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in the invention shown and described in Letters Patent No. 933,549, granted to us on the seventh day of September, 1909, to e of the bottle from what might be termed the standard size. In other words, by means of the improved mechanism as applied to a machine for sealing bottles, changes in size or shape of the bottle head, or in the height of the bottle within a reasonable limit, has no elfect whatever to disturb a predetermined pressure which is applied to the sealing cap at the beginning of the sealing operation, and maintained without change until the sealed bottle is released from the sealing devices. The foregoing brief description of the invention contained in the said Letters Patent, applies equally as well to the present apparatus, and the improvements hereinafter specified are not intended to nor do they afiect the sealing operation in any essential particular, they being designed solely for the purpose of reducing the compression strain on a certain coiled spring which yieldingly sustains the bottle seat, thereby decreasing the power necessary to operate the apparatus should an unusually tall bottle be placed in the machine to be sealed, as will hereinafter fully appear. In the further description of the said invention which follows, reference is made to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, and in which,-

Figure 1 is an exterior sectional side view of the improved machine. Fig. 2 is an enlarged central vertical section of the upper Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11116 14, 191130,

Application filed July 28, 1909.

Serial No. 510,042.

portion of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional View of the lower portion of the machine which embodies the present improvements.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 is the stand of the machine, and 2 a hollow vertical column secured to the upper portion of the stand.

3 is a bar which is placed within the hollow column 2 and adapted to have a vertical reciprocating movement derived from the driving shaft 5 through the medium of the crank 7, and the link 9 which unites the lower end of the bar with the crank pin a.

To the upper end of the bar 3 is secured the sealing head which consists of a cylinder 10 having a bracket 7) whereby it is connected to the bar 3, and a hollow lug 0, the sides of which are extended horizontally and engage with a projection (Z of the column 2 (see Fig. 1) and serve to guide the head in its up-and-down motion. The top of the cylinder 10 is closed by a screw plug 12, and its bottom is provided with a mouth-piece 18 which is interiorly flared to facilitate the entrance thereinto of the bottle head in the sealing operation hereinafter described. The lower portion of the cylinder 10 for a limited distance, beginning at the mouth-piece, is enlarged in internal diameter, and into this enlargement is loosely placed the cylindrical block which rests on an annular shoulder formed on the mouth-piece; and between the block 15 and the underside of the screw plug 12 is confined a stiff coiled spring 16 which is under compression. With this construction, should sufficient upward pressure be applied to the cylindrical block 15 it can be raised until its upper surface comes into contact with the shoulder 6 formed by enlarging the bore of the cylinder 10 as before described.

The cylindrical block 15 for a limited ver tical distance beginning at its bottom, is conically bored and fitted with a correspondingly shaped annular capping tool 17 formed preferably of hardened steel; and above this tool the block is provided with a cylindrical hole 19 is a cap-holding spindle whose lower end passes loosely through the hole f in the cylindrical block 15, and extends to near the bottom of the capping tool 17 and the said spindle is supported in this position by a collar 9 formed thereon, which rests on the top of the cylindrical block. The upper end of the spindle 19 is centralized by the screw plug 12 in which it fits loosely.

20 is a compressed spiral spring which is confined endwise between the screw plug 12 and the collar g, and its oflice is to yieldingly hold the sealing cap on the bottle head at and prior to the beginning of the sealing operation hereinafter described.

22 is the sealing cap-holder, consisting of a ring formed in segments which are backed by plate springs h. This device is placed between an inwardly projecting lip 2' in the mouth-piece 13 and the lower surface or edge of the capping tool 17, and is free to expand and contract as required in the bottle sealing operation hereinafter described.

The coiled spring 16 ofiers such resistance to further compression that in the upward movement of the cylindrical block due to the force necessary to seal a bottle, it will be limited to a distance which is less than that between the said block and the shoulder e in the cylinder 10, such distance in view of the angle of the inner conical surface of the capping tool being sufficient to effect the proper closing of the bottle seal around the head of the bottle.

The mechanism which sustains the bottle during the sealing operation, and which yields to admit of the downward movement of the bottle upon the conclusion of the sealing operation, consists of the parts as follows: Referring to Fig. 3, 24 isv a cylinder bolted to the bracket 7' projecting from the lower end of the'column 2, which cylinder is in vertical alinement with cylinder 10 of the sealing head. Within the cylinder 24:, and adapted to have a vertical movement therein, is another cylinder 25 having a pendent core 27 around which is placed a compressed coiled spring 29 which offers greater resistance to further compression than the spring 1.6 in the cylinder 10. The upper end of the spring 29 bears againstthe underside of the head of the inner cylinder 25 and its lower end abuts a partition a in the hollow plug 30, the portion 5 of which fits loosely within the cylinder 24. The upper part 0 of the plug 30 is adapted to slide in the inner cylinder 25. The lower end (P of the core 27 is reduced in diameter to produce the shoulder 6 and is provided with a nut f at-its extremity, which is beneath the partition a and prevents extension of the spring 29. It will be seen that the lower end of the inner cylinder 25 does not touch the upper end of the larger part b of the plug 30, thereby producing the space 9 and the height of this space is such that in the sealing-operation in which the innercylinder has a clownward movement, independently of the plug 30, the contact of the'said parts does not take place. Within the lowerpart b of the plug 30 is placed a cup 31 which covers the nut f and is of sufficient depth to admit of downward movement of the nut independently of the plug, which takes place in the operation of the machine hereinafter described. The edge of the cup 31 bears against the underside of the partition a in the plug 30; and between its bottom and the plug 32 which is screwed into the lower end of the outer cylinder 24 is placed the compressed spring 33 which is considerably weaker than the one 29, in the inner cylinder 25. The core 27 is interiorly threaded, and into it is screwed the stem 32 which passes upward through the core and the head'of the inner cylinder 25, and is provided with the bottle seat 33. The=bottle seat 33 has a pendent annular flange m which fits loosely over the outer cylinder 24. By this construction of the bottle seat, its stem 32" is practically stiffened, and prevented from side deflection; and the interior parts below protected from contact with liquid should a bottle be broken infilling.

As it is intended that the bottle and its scat shall move downward as soon assufficient force has been exerted by the capping tool upon the bottleseal to effect a tight closure, and that the pressure upon-the cap or seal shall be uniformly maintained until the sealed bottle is released, we employ the appliances which will now be described.

35 is a rack adapted to have an up-anddown movement'upon the front face of the column 2. It is suitably guided, and extends when in its highest position from near the top of-the column 2 to a bracket 36 which projects from the inner cylinder 25- and through a slot in the wall of the outer cylinder 2% of the bottle supporting appliances.

37 is a horizontal shaft journaled in the sides of the hollow lug a formed as-a part of the cylinder10 of the sealing head, to which is secured a pinion 39, the teeth of which are in mesh with those of the rack 35, assh own in Fig. 2. The said shaft is also provided with a ratchet=wheel 40 which is tight on the shaft, and consequently the'p-inion- 39 and ratchet wheel 40 are susceptible toa common rotary movement.

41 is a shaft similar to the-shaft 37, which carries a pawl 42, the point of which'is adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheelLO. This-pawl has a'tail-piece' 79 whereby it can be thrown in-o-r' out of'en gagement with the ratchet wheel lO; and it is intended that both of the said actions shall be produced primarily-from' the capping tool '17 as the-same changes its-vertical position in and with respect" to the-cylinder 10.

To' effect-the operations of the pawl; the cylindrical block 15 is provided with a horizontally extending finger qwhich passes through a slot in the wall of the cylinder 10; This finger is fitted with a vertical springsupported stem 43 havinga head which is slotted for the reception of the end of the tail piece 7) of the pawl 42.

It will be understood that up to this point the only substantial difference between the construction of the machine shown and described in the said Letters Patent, and that shown and described herein, consists in that whereas in the said Letters Patent the plug 30, upon which the coiled spring 29 is seated, is a fixture, the similar device in the present case is supported by the spring 33 which is weaker than the one 29 and consequently will be compressed before any compression of the other spring takes place. It follows, therefore, that should the said plug be locked so as to prevent compression of the coiled spring 33 the sealing operation will then correspond in every particular with that set out in the said Letters Patent and may be described as follows:

When the parts just described are in the positions shown in Fig. 2, the point of the pawl 42 is out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, and the sealing head can be moved downward without communicating any motion to the rack 35, the pinion 39 at the time being merely an idler. But should the capping tool with the cylindrical block 15 be pushed upward in the cylinder 10 sufficiently to cause the engagement of the pawl with the ratchet wheel, through the medium of the finger g, the slotted head of the stem 43 and the tail piece 29 of the pawl, the rotation of the pinion will be interrupted, and that device will in effect become a rigid device. Under these new conditions, the rack is forced downward by the fixed pinion, and by reason of its lower end resting on the bracket 36, the inner. cylinder 25 of the bottle supporting devices, together with thebottle seat, will move in unison with it and the vertical distance between the bottle seat and the capping tool at the time that the bottle is effectively sealed is maintained until the pawl 42 is again thrown out of gear with the ratchet wheel, which is effected at the termination of the sealing operation now to be described.

Supposing the various parts of the ma chine to be occupying the relative positions shown in the drawings, except that the plug 30 is locked so as to be immovable, a bottle to be standing on the seat 33, a sealing cap in position within the sealing head, that the strength of the spring 16 in the sealing head be such that the capping tool will perform its sealing function in the downward movement of the sealing head before the cylindrical block 15 has reached the shoulder e, that the resistance to further compression of the spring 29 which supports the bottle seat is such as not to be overcome when the cap is properly closed upon the bottle head, and that the sealing head is beginning its clownward movement, the machine will operate as follows: Upon the mouth-piece 13 passing over the bottle head, the latter enters'the sealing cap which is supported by the ring 22, and in the continued movement of the sealing head the crown of the sealing cap with its joint-forming gasket is compressed between the bot-tle head and the lower end of the spring backed spindle 19 sufficiently to produce a tight joint. At this time the bottle is stationary, and in a further downward motion of the sealing head, the capping tool is forced over the sealing cap, and the same brought tightly against the bottle which is sealed, when the capping tool stops. The sealing head continues its downward course independently of the capping tool until the shoulder e approaches the cylindrical block 15 which carries the capping tool, when the bottom of the slot in the head of the stem 43 reaches the tail-piece p and through it throws the point of the pawl into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 40 which together with the pinion 39 have been rotating, due to the latter being in mesh with the rack 35.

In the locking of the pinion 39 through the agency of the ratchet wheel and pawl as described, the pinion becomes a fixed device which causes the rack to descend with the sealing head, and as its lower end bears on the bracket 36 of the bottle supporting devices, the spring 29 is overcome and the seat 33 is forced down together with the bottle which remains under a uniform strain until in the rise of the sealing head it is released, when the rack, pinion and ratchet mechanism assume their original positions and the machine is in condition for another sealing operation similar to the one described.

By the means described a predetermined maximum sealing pressure upon the bottles effected by the strength of the spring 16, is in all cases applied, notwithstanding that the bottles may differ within a reasonable limit in length, and that the predetermined pressure cannot be increased, for the reason that upon the same being attained, the bottle descends in unison with the sealing devices.

It is well known that the supporting power of a coiled spring is not constant during its continued compression, but increases rapidly. It follows, therefore, that should a bottle having a height greatly in excess of that of the standard bottle be sealed, the extra compression of the strong spring 29 will place a much greater strain on the machine, and considerable reserve power must be provided to meet such a contingency.

To obviate the necessity of constructing" the machine to withstand a strain to which it may be rarely subjected, and the providing of a reserve power to be only occasionally required, we employ the weaker spring 33 before described, which admits of the depression of the bottle, the bottle seat, the spring 29 without alteration in its length, and the plug 30, until the bottle head has arrived at such a position that the remaining downward motion of the sealing head, should the plug be locked, will seal the bottle without compressing the s ring 29 to a greater extent than that e ected when bottles of standard height are being sealed. To accomplish this result, we provide the plug 30 at one side thereof with a rack 50, and adjacent to the rack, and upon a rotary shaft 52, place a toothed sector 53 carrying a ratchet wheel 55, the teeth of which sector engage the rack. Above the shaft 52 which supports the sector and ratchet wheel, we place a second shaft 57 carrying a spring-held pawl 59, the pointof which is normally out of contact with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and furnish the pawl with a finger 60. We also secure to the vertically-moving bar 3, a spring-backed vertical stem 62, the end of which is so situated with respect to the position of the crank 7, that it will strike the finger 60 and cause the engagement of the pawl with the ratchet wheel, and through the medium of the toothed sector and the rack, lock the plug 30 at the time that the sealing of the bottle is to take place. In other words, the compression of the spring 29, independently ofthe bottle, and subsequently to the sealing operation, is efi'ected in the manner described in the said Letters Patent except that it is performed when the sealing head has nearly completed, instead of just beginning, its downward movement.

The operation of the apparatus herein described, when the various parts thereof are in the positions illustrated in the drawing, and with a bottle standing on the bottle seat, consists as follows :The descend ing sealing head in coming into contact with eeneoa the bottle head, the bottle, the rack and all the elements of the bottle seat, except the outer cylinder 24 and the coiled spring 33*, are depressed, and the toothed sector 53 and the ratchet wheel 55 made to rotate through the medium of the rack 50. As soon as the bottle head has reached a point where the remaining downward movement of the head is sufiicient to elfect the sealing operation, and produce a slight subsequent compression of the spring 29, through the medium of the rack 35, the stem 62 strikes the finger 60, which causes the locking of the plug 30, and the sealing operation is performed in the same manner as that described in'the said Letters Patent. Upon the ascent of the sealing head, after the completion of ,the sealing operation, all the movable parts of the machine return to their original positions'.

We claim as our invention,

In a machine for sealing bottles, a sealing head with means to eifect its up-and-down movement, a bottle seat, a spring to support the bottle seat, and a weaker spring to sustain the stronger spring, together with the bottle seat, combined with devices to suspend the compression of the weaker spring at a prearranged part of the downward motion of the sealing head, and appliances actuated by a bottle on the seat, which upon suspension of the compression of the weaker spring will communicate the motion of the sealing head to the bottle seat and thereby cause a compression of the stronger spring without changing the distance then existing between the sealing head and the bottle seat, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

EMORY J. GODMAN. 7 WILLIAM H. NIEMEYER.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH M. BAKER, J 0s. P. OAsKIN. 

